


The Lovers of Avatar Kyoshi

by Gamerqueer



Series: The Legend of Korrasami [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, Fictional History, Library
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 11:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3446270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamerqueer/pseuds/Gamerqueer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While in a library in Zaofu, Opal gives Asami a history lesson, and Asami admits something aloud for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lovers of Avatar Kyoshi

Team Avatar had recently arrived on Zaofu, but they were all busy at different tasks. Korra was honing her skills in metalbending with Wing, Wei, and Suyin. Bolin had spent some of the day still attempting to metalbend before finally running off with Mako to explore the city. Opal and Asami were in the library within the Beifong estate. The new airbender sat reading a book of old air nomad legends while the engineer wandered about looking through the collection of books.

“Sorry that our library probably isn’t as big as what you’re used to,” Opal said, looking up from the text.

Asami waved her hand. “There are books here I’ve never even heard of! It’s lovely!” She continued browsing for a bit longer before sighing loudly.

Opal put her book down and walked over to her. “Can I help you find something, Asami?”

The engineer froze. “Well…yes actually. Do you have any books on Avatar Kyoshi?”

Opal’s face lit up. “Of course! Follow me!” She took Asami’s hand, pulling her to a separate wing of the library. A life size—almost 7 feet tall—metal statue stood in the center of the room.

“This whole room is dedicated to Kyoshi?” asked the engineer, smiling and looking up at the statue.

“Mostly,” replied Opal. She pointed to a back wall filled with hundreds of ancient texts. “Over there we keep the books on other Earth-born Avatars, but we have much less information on them than we have on Avatar Kyoshi.”

“Oh okay. Thank you for your help, Opal,” replied Asami, eyes scanning the shelves near where she stood.

“So why the interest in Kyoshi?” asked the airbender with an eyebrow raised.

“I’ve just always been interested in her,” Asami quickly replied. “She was such a fascinating Avatar, and she let no one stand in her way—even when it led to opposition from entire nations!” The engineer smirked and thought back to the encounter with President Raiko. “Korra is definitely a lot like her in many ways…”

“You know, I think I know a book that might interest you.” Opal leapt off the ground in a burst of air to grab a book from a higher shelf then soon returned. She handed the text to Asami.

“The Lovers of Avatar Kyoshi,” read Asami aloud. A blush spread across her face. “How did you know I was looking for a book like this?” she whispered.

Opal squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “I just had a feeling.”

Asami flipped through the pages, cheeks growing even redder at the occasional images of Kyoshi posed nude with other women. “I always heard rumors,” she muttered, “but I never knew for certain that Kyoshi had female lovers.”

Opal beamed. “Many Avatars had same-sex lovers! Yangchen chose to be celibate, but she had close male _and_ female companions throughout her life. Kuruk was very open about his sexual encounters with any gender—though he only ever gave his heart to one woman. Roku married a woman, but some people even say he and Sozin were more than just friends when they were young! Oh my! I’m sorry I keep going on! Should I stop?”

“No!” pleaded Asami before clearing her throat. “I mean, no, please keep going. This is very interesting.”

The airbender grinned. “Okay! But back to Kyoshi, she had relationships almost exclusively with women. She did have a daughter, but no father is documented, so it’s likely she was conceived through an act of service. Anyway, her first known lover was Han, and she was one of the first Kyoshi warriors. After she died in battle, Kyoshi was miserable for years and blamed herself.” Opal’s eyes watered slightly, and she wiped them on her sleeve. “Eventually she met her next lover—a peasant from Omashu. Kyoshi ran to the woman’s aid as she saw her being mugged only to find the woman had taken care of the attacker herself without the use of bending. Kyoshi and the woman—Liang—lived together for many years, raising their daughter Koko. Liang died when she was 86 of natural causes—Kyoshi was 103 at the time.”

Asami was enthralled. “And Kyoshi lived over another hundred years too, right?”

“Yep! She lived to be 230 years old—the oldest of any known Avatar. She certainly had many more lovers, but when she died, she had settled down on the island with Zara—a much younger Fire Nation woman she had met.”

“How old was Zara?” asked Asami.

“Oh probably around 30. I think Kyoshi was something of a charmer through her life. That age difference created gossip in the town though. And the fact that she had brought a Fire Nation woman to live on the island with her.”

Asami laughed. “But I doubt Kyoshi put up with that for long.”

Opal laughed as well and nodded. “Yes, Kyoshi never took negative talk about her lovers lightly.” She then blushed. “Spirits! I think I’ve spoiled the whole book for you!”

“Maybe! But I’d still like to read it for myself,” Asami said with a smile. She brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. “Oh, I do have another question. What about Aang?”

“From everything I’ve read, it seems he was really only ever attracted to Katara. They were together from a very young age, and there’s no record of him pursuing anyone else.”

“That’s interesting. Thank you for sharing all this with me. How do you know so much about it anyway?”

“Well, before I became an airbender, I spent a lot of time here in the library. And once I realized I liked girls too—”

Asami raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Opal giggled and hugged the engineer. “There are very few Beifongs who are only interested in one gender, Asami.”

“Oh okay. Like your mom of course?”

Opal pulled away and laughed uncontrollably. “Mom? Mom was in a traveling circus! She dated almost all her fellow acrobats!”

Asami put her face in her hands. “Oh my! I’m so sorry for assuming!”

Opal smiled. “It’s okay. Zaofu is a lot more open about these things. Mom has always made sure to encourage self-expression of almost any kind.”

“That’s amazing,” sighed Asami.

The airbender leaned forward so that her mouth was near Asami’s ear. “So, how long have you had this crush on Korra?”

The engineer jumped back, face bright red. “I do not—why would I—” She looked down at her feet. “How did you know?” she muttered.

Opal touched the side of the woman’s face. “I saw the way you watched her every move when she was training me. The way her hair blew around in the wind—the way those muscular arms bent each gust of air—the way those hips moved as she turned,” she whispered slyly.

Sweat formed on Asami’s forehead. “Was I really that obvious?”

Opal nodded. “Oh yes. So when you started comparing Korra to Kyoshi, my suspicions were confirmed.”

Asami groaned and fell into a large armchair.

“So how long _has_ it been?”

“Well I’ve known I was attracted to women since I was a young girl, and I’ve always found Korra attractive. How could anyone not? But since Harmonic Convergence, she has just taken charge so much in Republic City, and we started spending more time together, and eventually this horrible crush just became a thing,” Asami said, putting her face into her hands once more. “Please don’t tell her though. There’s just so much going on right now, and then there’s the whole shared history with Mako and—“

Opal laughed and pulled Asami into a tight hug. “Your secret’s safe with me. Just relax. Things will happen when they are meant to.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by jorlau's fic "In Which Asami Studies Historical Avatars", which is a great fic that you should all check out! And as always, please comment and leave kudos if you'd like!


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